More clarity needed over services
AN UPDATED report on the state of mental health services in the island has been able to offer a degree of clarity, where previously there was little.
Of one thing there is now no doubt – the need for mental health services is only going to increase. The reasons for that are myriad, but when GPs are saying that up to half of their patients are concerned not with coughs and colds and aches and pains, but their own wellbeing, it’s clear we have a problem on our hands of a scale which will shock most islanders.
The report is critical in places but it also explains, in part, why the service is criticised. In some areas it has become something of a Cinderella service, under-rated, under-appreciated, under-resourced.
But in the minds of others, the problem is one of perception. Independent reviewer David Gedze says that there is a misunderstanding of what the Oberlands is set up to offer.
Another recommendation is the greater use of charitable services such as Guernsey Mind, with Mr Gedze leaning on its strong reputation with the local public, users or not.
But pushing state services on to the third sector can be fraught, as the charity argues today. It receives nothing from the States – and if mental health services are going to change for the better, the States cannot gamble that someone else will be prepared to pick up the tab.